Sewing from Japanese books - part 3

 Read part 1 here and part 2 here.

The next step after cutting out the pattern is the fun bit - sewing it all together! In this pattern, each step is numbered. You can see here, step 1 is finishing the raw edges by zig-zagging them, sewing up the back centre seam but stopping short of the top for the opening, the measurement for this is given in an earlier diagram. The second picture shows the same seam pressed open.

In step 2, the side and shoulder seams and then sewn together and pressed open.

Step 4 and 5 explain how to attach the facing to the neck, first by joining the front and back facings together, then sewing it onto the neck hole, including fixing a loop for the fastening. It shows notches clipped out of the curve within the seam allowance. In the last diagram on the right, the facing is stitched 2mm from the seam allowance to stop it from rolling over. Next (shown in the picture below) the edges of the opening are stitched 0.5 mm from the seam.

Step 6 explains how to bias bind the armholes, I found this quite confusing the first time I did it, but after bit of googling, it became clearer!

Step 7 is sewing the hem, 8 is making the casing for the belt  and 9 is sewing it on. The measurements of where to place the belt are shown in the original diagrams. Step 10 is fixing on the button for the opening.

All finished! It is a simple garment to make, and no doubt making other things especially for adults might be a bit more complicated. But most of the instructions are shown in the form of a picture and infact they are extremely detailed, showing steps they maybe don't need to.

The finished draft top is shown at the beginning of the post. The fit is good, though I might take in a bit of slack under the arms. I didn't bother with any of the finishing with this version as I just wanted to check the fit. I re-drafted the pattern with about 1cm less at the side under the arm, and flared it out to the same point at the hem.

Yesterday I actually remembered to pre-wash the fabric I will be using, so won't be frantically ironing it dry so that I can sew it, which is what I usually end up doing!

The pattern shows how much fabric to use in this diagram, suggesting 115cm - 125cm. However, I have decided to bias bind the neck rather than use a facing, so this cuts down the fabric considerably and by measuring the pattern pieces, I worked out that I only needed 75cm.

I will try and sew it up this weekend and post the final top.